Ecosystem Advantage: How to Successfully Harness the Power of Partners

• Main Authors: WILLIAMSON, Peter James, DE MEYER, Arnoud
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2012
• Subjects: networks; value creation; organizational structure; Operations and Supply Chain Management; Strategic Management Policy; Technology and Innovation
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/3519; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/lkcsb_research/article/4518/viewcontent/prof_de_meyers_research__cmr5501_williamson.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Changes in the global environment are generating opportunities for companies to build advantage by creating loosely coupled networks or ecosystems. Ecosystems are larger, more diverse, and more fluid than a traditional set of bilateral partnerships or complementors. By leveraging ecosystems, companies can deliver complex solutions while maintaining corporate focus. This article describes six keys to unlock ecosystem advantage: pinpointing where value is created, defining an architecture of differentiated partner roles, stimulating complementary partner investments, reducing the transaction costs, facilitating joint learning across the network, and engineering effective ways to capture profit.